USA > Missouri > Jackson County > Kansas City > Kansas City, Missouri : its history and its people 1808-1908 > Part 42
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shall certify the result to the mayor of said city, and then said city may so proceed to extend its limits as provided in this section : provided, that if the city, the limits of which are to be extended, is organized under section 16 of article 9 of the constitution of this State, then the ordinance extending the limits shall, in all cases where the corporate limits are defined in the charter of such city, be in the form of a proposed amendment to the charter of such city ; and before the same shall be of any force and effect it shall be submitted to and accepted by three-fifths of the qualified voters of such city voting at a general or special election, in all respects and in compliance with the re- quirements provided for amendments to the charter of such city.
"Section 1881 .- Annexed Territory to be Divided into Wards .- When- ever by extension to its territorial limits as aforesaid, new territory is annexed to such city, the law-making authorities thereof shall, by ordinance, organize the same into a new ward or wards, or attach the same to some existing ward or wards, long enough before the next ensuing general city election to enable electors in such annexed territory to register, and all other proper steps to be taken acording to law, so that the electors of such annexed territory may have full opportunity to register and vote at such election. Actual residents of any territory at the time of the annexation thereof as aforesaid, shall, if otherwise qualified, be qualified electors of such cities and eligible to any office therein at the next general city election following such annexation.
"Section 1882 .- City may be Redistricted, When .- Whenever the cor- porate limits of any such city shall be so extended, and whenever and as often as the population of any such city, or of any ward or wards thereof, has been or may be so increased or diminished as to render, in the opinion of the law-making authorities of such city, a revision or redistricting of the corporation into wards or a change in the boundary of any ward or wards necessary, the same may be done by ordinance.
"Section 1883 .- Redistricting Ordinance to be Published .- Before such ordinance shall be passed, the same shall be published for at least three weeks in at least one daily newspaper in such city, to be designated by the law-making authorities of such city, but the failure to make such publication shall in no way affect the validity of such ordinance.
"Section 1884 .- Redistricting not to Affect Eligibility of Electors .- In case of redistricting or division of any such city into wards, creation of boundary in any ward or wards, every qualified elector residing in any ward at any general city election next thereafter, duly registered, shall be a qual- ified voter of such ward, and nothing in this article contained shall be so construed as to prevent any elector from voting or being eligible to any office by reason of such redistricting or division or creation of any new ward or wards, or change in the boundary of any ward or wards.
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"Section 1885 .- Il'hen Territory Not to be Added .- Territory shall not be annexed to any such city within four months next preceding any general city election, nor shall there be a redistricting or division of the city into wards, or change of any boundary of any ward or wards, or creation of any new ward or wards, within two months next preceding any general city election.
"Section 1886 .- Wards to be of Adjacent Territory .- Numbering .- All wards which may be established by ordinance as aforesaid shall be composed of adjacent and compact territory and the several wards, at the time of redis- tricting shall contain as nearly an equal number of inhabitants as may be practicable. The wards shall be numbered consecutively from one up to the highest number thus established.
"Section 1887 .- Election New Ward .- Whenever any change in the number of wards or alteration in the boundaries of any ward shall be made, or new wards shall be established, there shall be no election of a representa- tive to the municipal legislation for such ward until the general election for corporation officers.
"Section 1888 .- Redistricting Not to Affect Term of Office of Incum- bent .- Nothing in this article contained shall be construed to limit or abridge the term of office which any representative in the municipal legislature of such city shall be elected to fill, but every such representative shall be deemed and taken for the residue of the term for which he may have been elected, as representative of that ward in which his actual residence and place of abode may be at the time of any division of such city into wards, creation of any new ward or wards, or change in the boundaries of any ward or wards.
"Section 1889 .- City Has Exclusive Control of Public Highways .- Such city shall have exclusive control over its public highways, streets, avenues, alleys and public places, and shall have exclusive power, by ordinance, to vacate or abandon any public highway, street, avenue, alley or public place, or part thereof, any law of this State to the contrary notwithstanding.
"Section 1890 .- Regulation of Public Franchises .- It shall be lawful for any such city in such charter, or by amendment thereof, to provide for reg- ulating and controlling the exercise by any person or corporation of any public franchise or privilege in any of the streets or public places of such city, whether such franchises or privileges have been granted by said city or under the State of Missouri, or any other authority.
"Section 1891 .- Parks, Cemeteries-May be Provided for .- It shall be lawful for any such city to make provision in its charter, or by amendment thereof, to acquire and hold, by gift, devise, purchase or by the exercise of the power of eminent domain by condemnation proceedings, lands for public use, either within the corporate boundaries of such city or outside of such
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corporate boundaries, and within the territorial limits of the county in which such city may be situated. for public parks, cemeteries, penal institutions, hospitals, rights of way for sewers, or for any other public purposes, and to provide for managing, controlling and policing the same."
The general structure of Kansas City's municipal government is thus outlined in the Constitutional sections and Enabling Act, and beginning with the charter of 1889, the powers of the city were, and continued to be, vested in a Mayor and a Council of two chambers-an upper and a lower house. Succeeding the more simple one-chambered council of the first char- ter the form of government was fashioned on the "King, Lords and Com- mons" idea. The Upper House was composed in later times of (14) alder- men elected for four years from the city as a whole. Seven of them were elected in each biennial city election. The Lower House was made up of (14) aldermen each representing one ward and elected only from that ward, and all elected at the same time for a two-year term. The two houses were given equal jurisdiction, that is, all ordinances were required to pass both houses. The upper house was superior only in having the power to confirm or reject most of the mayor's appointments. Both houses worked through their several committees and transacted minor routine business of the city as well as its more important measures of policy. As many as 400 ordinances and resolutions have been acted on by one or the other house in a single sitting.
The Mayor was the chief executive officer of the city and had the usual veto power over fewer than two-thirds of the council votes of both houses. He appointed-usually with the approval of the council upper house -- many of the subordinate or coordinate municipal officers, chief of whom were the members of the board of public works and the park commissioners. The board of public works initiated the general construction work of the munici- pality and had supervision, as water commissioners, of the municipal water works. The board of park commissioners approximated to a separate govern- ing body, having fairly authoritative control of the parks and boulevards, though dependent on the city council for certain maintenance appropriations and having to submit proceedings for park condemnation to the council. Police and election matters were under separate state law, and were not sub- ject to charter regulation.
On August 4, 1908, a new charter was adopted by a vote of 14,069 for to 5,219 against. The board of thirteen freeholders who drafted this charter had this membership: J. V. C. Karnes, chairman; Walter J. Bales, William P. Borland, Charles Campbell, F. D. Crabbs, Andrew F. Evans, D. J. Hahh, Charles J. Hubbard. R. J. Ingraham, Robert B. Middlebrook, John H. Moore, John H. Thacher and F. W. Tuttle. The board had been nominated by
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Mayor Henry M. Beardsley and elected by the people at the general munici- pal election of April, 1908. An earlier charter draft submitted for the people's votes on March 7, 1905, was defeated.
Fundamentally the charter of 1889 was not changed by the charter adopted in 1908. The structure of the city government remained the same, with its Mayor and two Council houses, one elected from the city at large and one representing ward limits. But in many important details changes were made, and while no radical cures for old inefficiencies and abuses were attempted, much progress was acomplished for simplicity and directness in transacting the municipal business.
The following epitome of the chief advances made, showing in brief out- line the form of city government now prevailing (in 1908) is adapted from a statement to the voters issued by a committee of the board of freeholders:
The charter of the city is its fundamental local law, prescribing its form of government, fixing the powers and duties of its officers and defining the authority of the City Council. Kansas City has the right, under the consti- tution of the state, to frame its own charter. It is one of the few cities of the United States possessing this privilege.
The first constitutional charter was adopted in 1889, when Kansas City was a comparatively small town, both in inhabitants and in territorial area. Amendments to this charter were made in 1890, 1892, 1895 and 1903. Some of its sections had been cut away by decisions of the Supreme Court, others were so unsuited to present conditions that they were necessarily disregarded in the daily discharge of the city's business. Its limitations were such that it was inadequate to meet the great problems that confronted the city, such as the prevention of floods, the new depot, the Twelfth street traffic-way, and the efficient management and operation of the new city hospital.
The good features of the old charter were constantly kept in mind in framing the new one, and changes were only made in those respects in which the decisions of our courts and the practical solution of new problems before the city demanded changes in or additions to the present city charter.
The charter adopted on August 4, 1908, was a substantial recon- struction of the old charter of 1889 along modern progressive lines, conform- ing to the general laws of the state, the decisions of the Supreme Court and the administrative changes which have been forced upon the city. It made such alterations as were necessary to conduct the affairs of the city in a businesslike way with the least expense to the tax payers and the greatest degree of safety and protection to the body of citizens who compose the Kansas City of 1908, as distinguished from the Kansas City of twenty years ago. It insured a safe, orderly and progressive municipal government. provided for the transaction of public business with the same promptness,
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efficiency and common sense that a citizen would use in conducting his own private business.
The charter of 1908 preserved every valuable feature of the charter of 1889, and introduced such new methods of machinery as had been justified by the most careful and thorough tests and such as were in line with the march of progress in other cities of the country, and the value of which changes had been demonstrated beyond question by experience and. estab- lished usage. It was a conservative charter and free from radieal innovations and experiments. It eliminated the features of the old charter which were costly, extravagant or incapable of being carried out and added such innova- tions as were necessary to meet the present and future conditions of the city.
Powers of the City. The powers of the city to preserve and protect the health and property of citizens and promote the general welfare are now greatly enlarged. Under the new charter the city may construct and main- tain dikes, revetments and levees for the purpose of preventing floods and overflows; may acquire, maintain and operate tunnels, tracks, depots, tele- phone and telegraph lines, bridges and subways; may acquire and maintain quarantine stations and make provision for the maintenance and support of insane and indigent citizens. The city is given broader power of condemna- tion for public purposes, necessary to meet the many emergencies and novel conditions now confronting the city.
The Common Council. The city council continues practically .as under the charter of 1889 except that the President of the Upper House is chosen by the members of that body from among their own number. The qualifica- tion that members of the Common Council should own real estate is eliminated, so as to conform to the state law. Regular meetings of the Common Council are to be held on Monday of each week instead of once a month as under the former charter, so that the necessity of a special message and the labor and expense incident to preparing and publishing what is known as the "budget" are dispensed with. The powers of the Common Council are enlarged to correspond with the enlarged powers of the city. The enumeration of the occupations, corporations, institutions, commodities and utilities subject to license tax and regulation has been enlarged to meet the narrow limitations placed upon the charter by the courts.
The power is given to establish and maintain plants for paving, repaving and repairing streets; the city is given authority to do such work and bid therefor in competition with contractors. The power of the Common Council has been enlarged in the matter of directing and controlling the laying and construction of steam railroad tracks, bridges and switches in the streets, the location of depot grounds and the protection of the interests of the city and
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of its citizens in the construction and maintenance of railroads, street cross- ings, viaducts and tunnels.
Power is given to the Common Council to regulate, control or prohibit sign boards, bill boards and structures for advertising purposes along or within view of the streets, highways or public places within the city ; to regu- late the rates to be charged for services of all persons or corporations owning or operating public utilities within the city.
This charter, while preserving to the Mayor and Common Council the absolute control of the finances and revenues of the city, and maintaining checks and safeguards against reckless or unwise expenditures of public money, relieves the Common Council of a large volume of routine work and of much useless and cumbersome legislation necessitated by the terms of the 1889 charter.
The Mayor and Other Municipal Officers. The Mayor is elected and qualified as formerly provided; is made an ex officio member ofall boards, and is partially relieved of the oncrous duty of hearing complaints and appeals for pardons and paroles; is charged with absolute responsibility in the appointment of all boards having functions of purely a business character. In case of vacancy in office the Mayor is elected by the City Council for the unexpired term.
The Mayor has been made absolutely responsible for the management and operation of the fire department and water works of the city, and for the conduct of the hospital and maintenance of the public health, by placing in his hands the power of appointment, without confirmation of the boards governing these functions, viz .: The Fire and Water commissioners and the Hospital and Health board.
The right of confirmation of appointees given to councils in municipal charters was originally intended to put a check upon bad appointments by the Mayor. It has frequently failed of this purpose because of the natural and inevitable conversion by the councils of the right of confirmation into an actual participation in the appointment power. It was thought best to pre- serve this check in the case of the board of Public Works, whose duties are so closely related to the functions of the Common Council in making public improvements and levying special taxes, but in the case of the Fire and Water commissioners and the Hospital and Health board, the functions of which are of a distinctly different character, it was deemed advisable to follow the experience of the best governed cities everywhere by removing the right of confirmation and placing the responsibility for the success and character of the administration exclusively on the Mayor, thus eliminating the plausible excuse that incompetent appointments have been made because the council refused to confirm better men.
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A Much Needed Relief. The board of Public Works under the former charter, was overwhelmed with the detailed duties of managing and con- trolling practically all of the departments of the city's administrative busi- ness. It was a physical impossibility for any of the boards of public works of the city to give adequate care and attention to the manifold details of the business under their supervision. The present charter relieves this board of the great volume of business necessary for the effective handling of the water works and fire department and the hospitals, and it is thus enabled to devote its time to the protection of the city's interests in the matter of the manage- ment and control of public improvements.
A Protection From Floods. One of the greatest problems confronting the city has been the question of how to prevent the annual recurrence of floods and inundations. . This menace to the lives and property, and to the business interests of the city, became so serious a problem that it could only be met by a radical addition to the old charter. A simple, fair and effective method of remedying this evil is provided in the present charter. The provision for a fair judicial hearing and a verdict by a jury in making assessments, and the co-operation of the board of Public Works in devising plans for flood preven- tion, enables the city to proceed immediately to secure effective relief. With- out such a measure as this of the new charter, the city was exposed to the danger of some legislative enactment on the subject, which would be inimical to the interests of the city and would invite a long, tedious process of litiga- tion, and open the way to indiscriminate and unjust taxation by a commis- sion or such other board or body as the legislature might designate.
A Business System of Finance and Accounting. In the new charter inconsistencies in the system of finance and accounting have been eliminated The City Comptroller, as the bulwark of the financial good name of the city, is strengthened in his guardianship of the city treasury. He is made an elective officer in order to give him the independence and authority such an officer should have in the supervision of the departments and persons under him. He countersigns all warrants and supervises all branches of the city's finances. The Auditor is made an appointive officer and is required to be a competent accountant. He draws all warrants on the treasury as under the present charter, keeps a full check on all receipts, of money paid into the treasury and has full control of the same. He audits all accounts of the city at least once a year. The bookkeeping department of the city is greatly sim- plified and made to conform with the methods advocated by the best national municipal experts. The old complicated methods were changed in such a way as to make them uniform with the modern, scientific systems adopted by the larger and more progressive cities of the country. In the method of expending money the treasury is amply safe-guarded, but the Common
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Council is relieved of all purposeless detail in its legislative deliberations. Every transaction demanding the payment of money is brought into the full light of day and made to pass under the eyes of those officials who know most about it and who are best able to protect the city's interests. A pur- chasing agent is provided for who will have power, under proper restrictions, to make purchases of materials and supplies at the lowest possible figure and with the greatest economy to the city.
Revenue and Taxation. The general plan of revenue and taxation re- mains the same as in the old charter. The constitutional limit to general taxation is 1% of the assessed valuation. The following improvements have been made in the collection of these taxes:
First, the taxes become payable June 1st instead of May 10th, thus re- lieving to some extent the pressure on the City Treasurer's office, and saving the city considerable expense in the hiring of extra clerks.
Second, the ward offices for the return of the Assessor's lists have been found by experience to be useless and have been abolished, resulting in a material saving to the city.
Third, the rate of penalty on delinquent taxes has been reduced from 2% a month to 1% a month.
Fourth, the sale of real estate for delinquent taxes will now be made to the tax buyer who offers to carry the taxes at the lowest rate of interest, not exceeding 12% per annum. The old charter allowed the tax buyer to add 10% per annum immediately to the amount of his bill and then carry the whole amount at 24% per annum. If the property owner paid off the delin- quent taxes within a year after the sale he paid the enormous rate of 24%. Now he will pay no more than 12%.
Fifth, delinquent taxes now run for five years after the sale before deed is given to purchaser. Under the old charter they ran but two years.
The Municipal Court. The Police court and the Mayor's court have been superseded by the Municipal court, which has jurisdiction over grading and condemnation cases, in addition to the functions discharged by the Police court under the old charter. The judge of the Municipal court must be an attorney at law of at least five years' experience at the bar. This court has charge of the great volume of the city's business pertaining to the open- ing, widening and grading of streets. The same rights of appeal are pre- served that existed under the 1889 charter.
Traffic-Ways, etc. It is provided that when the grading of streets, build- ing of viaduets and tunnels and the condemnation of private property are all parts of one general improvement, damages and benefits may be ascer- tained in a single proceeding. Under the old charter, separate proceedings
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were necessary for each of these improvements. The most ample and elastic machinery is included in the present charter for meeting such situations.
The New Depot. It was one purpose in the adoption of the present charter to place at the disposal of the city all legislative tools and machinery necessary for speedy solution of the depot problem. It provided methods by which damages to be caused by the vacation of streets and the construction of bridges, viaducts, tunnels, overhead and underground crossings and ap- proaches could be speedily and fairly ascertained. It gave the city broad powers for the protection of its interests and rights of its citizens in its nego- tiations with the Terminal company or others. It provided methods by which franchises could be submitted to the people without necessitating an amendment to the charter.
Hospital and Health Department. The charter of 1908 provided for the appointment of a Hospital and Health board to be composed of three high class business men, no one of them to be a physician, but all to be chosen with a view to their special qualifications and fitness for such position. No more than two of them are to be of one political party; they serve without compensation and are in absolute control of the health of the city, including the management of the hospitals. This board has authority to appoint a medical staff, which likewise serves without compensation. The board engages such medical assistants and nurses as are needed by them in the hospital and sanitary departments of the city. They direct the purchase of all supplies, keep books and make regular reports to the City Comptroller. Their duty is to adopt the best means to protect and relieve the people from any form of disease, contagious or otherwise, and any epidemic that may be prevalent or imminent in the city. All sanitary measures emanate from and are enforced by said board, and the responsibility therefor centers in it. In these important matters there is no conflict of authority. The board is ap- pointed by the Mayor and he may, at his pleasure, sit with them when they are in session, but without voting. A very much needed power is granted to this department to compel non-resident property owners and others to ob- serve the health regulations of the city. The board is given power to abate nuisances of all kinds and make contracts for the removal of garbage. The board is given power to act immediately and effectively when great emergen- cies arise that affect or endanger the public health.
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